


The Coriolis Effect

by nonamemanga



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is the mayor, Allura is the only one who really knows everything, Also shiro is smitten first, Altea is an island, And human sometimes, Based on a Tumblr Post, Bulmera is the name of the Flour mill, Drabble, F/F, F/M, Keith is a witch, Kiki's Delivery Service AU, Lance is an Innkeeper, M/M, Other, Pidge is a bird!, Shiro & Allura Friendship, Shiro is a meterologist, Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), Thace is not Keith's dad, Thace wonders, Votron is a bakery, and Arus is a town!, but now as an apothecary, everywhere, hunk is a baker, no one asked for this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-08-29 14:42:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8493853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonamemanga/pseuds/nonamemanga
Summary: The Kiki's Delivery Service au no one asked for.Inspired by Tumblr Sheith artKeith has completed his training, finished his apprenticeship, and is ready to become a town witch. He and his familiar Pidge move to the seaside town of Arus on the remote island of Altea to start his career. Unfortunately, no one has ever seen a witch in Altea for decades and the town is in for a surprise as these two outsiders settle in.or alternatively,Shiro has always dreamt of flying and while he's never left his home island of Altea, dreams of traveling further. When he meets Keith, a young witch trying to sustain a broom based delivery service, Shiro discovers that flying doesn't mean leaving.





	1. A Town with an Ocean View

It’s the beginning of summer and the oceans calm. There’s a small wooden house on a cliff not far from the shore and under the bright sun, it sleeps with slowly spinning wind vanes. On the roof, there is a smattering of metal contraptions and a balloon lying patiently to be checked. If one listed, they would hear the increasing spin of vanes turbine.

Shiro wasn’t listening the turbine but instead in bed, relaxing as the sun brightened his window sill. He stretches, his hands searching blindly for his glasses and his feet finding the wooden floor under his soles. Getting up, he goes to the kitchen to prepare some tea. It’s the weekend and while Shiro would normally be up and already checking the data recorded by each of his contraptions, he feels a laziness that comes only every blue moon or so, where one day’s allowance won’t impede any work that needs to be done. He sets a kettle on the stove and moves to a window to watch tides and the blue sky. 

There is a flock of seagulls scouring the beach for left overs and some circling the sky, chasing a smaller bird. Just as Shiro makes to look more carefully at just what bird they are chasing, someone on a broom shoots across the sky to chase the nuisances away. The seagulls squawk and retreat to the shoreline, the person on the broom cursing loudly and taking the smaller bird onto their person. Not quite believing what he’s seeing, Shiro runs to the porch and shouts out to the stranger. 

“Hey! Wait-!” He’s cut off by the whistling of his kettle and the mysterious flying person leaves the area without noticing the man on the beach calling out to them. 

There is now way that just happened. He stands there a moment, just watching the seagulls as they take back to the sky, this time looking for new prey. Processing that he saw something but perhaps its wasn’t some cursing person on a broom that he saw, he turns, makes his way back to the kitchen and pours his kettle into a steeper and sits, waiting for his tea to be ready. 

~*~

Pidge sits snuggly behind Keith as he mutters curses under his breath and steers them back over land and closer to the town. Their head is pressed between his shoulder blades and their arms wrapped around his torso. 

“You know I could just fly next to you.” They huff. Keith scoffs. 

“Not if you try to pick a fight with another seagull.” Pidge resists their urge to pout but fails and squeezes Keith to make their dissatisfaction known. He stiffens under their hold but forces himself to relax. Satisfied with this response, Pidge continues. 

“I wasn’t trying to interact with those dumb seabirds! They aren’t even worth a toucan’s time of day.” 

“Have you even met a toucan before?” Keith quips. 

“No! But someday we will. And you’ll see just how stupid they are.” Pidge declares. They nudge closer to Keith as he slows down and begins their descent into the town. Instead of responding, Keith chooses to look for an alley somewhere to land. 

“Do you even know where we are?” 

“On an island."

"But what island?"

Keith remained silent. He finished his maneuver and landed behind a bakery. Keith stood and pulled the broom up to rest on the cobblestone path. Pidge hopped a few steps, stretching their legs and back from the stiff ride. 

Pidge exclaimed, "Geez! I don't know how you witches manage on those brooms! They're so stiff and ridged you can barely move. Let's go find out where we are!"

Keith gives a small yelp as he is yanked by an excited Pidge into a main road; a few bystanders move out of their way, surprised by the new faces and their speed. They run around twisting paths and up several stair wells before reaching the center of town. There is a moderate square with a tall clock tower and road curving around an open park. Hanging from the trees and some windows are green and yellow banners and white tents are set up in the square preparing for a market of sorts. Pidge lets go of Keith's hand and rushes into the market with Keith following closely behind. They wonder through the different tents, glancing and examining different tables and wares. Pidge lets out a happy yell for Keith to come and he finds them at a spice table. 

"Keith! Look at this! There's a ton of plants for potions! There's lavender and corpse's plant and devil's dung-"

"Well you sure know your plants young lady! What can Coran do for you today?" A loud orange-haired man appeared from behind the table just as Keith arrived. He had a large orange moustache and behind him was a blue sign for the 'Coranthecary'

Keith cut in before Pidge could ask for Blood of Hestia. 

"Could you tell us which town we're in?"

Thrown by the question, Coran looks at the two before realizes what they are.

"You must be toursits! Welcome to Arus, the biggest town on Altea!"


	2. Where No one goes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Pidge meet some new people, get some advice and look for a place to stay.  
> Shiro is losing it.

Flying is a gift and a responsibility. 

To become a part of the sky and to know the winds and ways just as well as the roads on the ground is thrilling, freeing and most of all empowering. When Keith was young, he flew more than he did anything else. Potions only became an interest years down the line, once his apprenticeship became a necessity to survive and Pidge came along. If there was anything he was thankful for was that pidge loved flying as much as him. 

But before he grew up before the responsibility of being a witch had caught up with him, Keith would steal a broom - any broom, mop, or stick - and take off without anyone seeing. The wind rushing around his body and through his hair was nearly as thrilling as the fall, rising as high as he could and then just letting go in a downward spin. He would only fall until he felt the wind around him slow and he held on to his broom to slow down and look up. Most times he would leave at night and when he could he would get about the low-level clouds and searched for the stars.

The wind, the sky, it was all in his blood. And sometimes he wondered if he ever wanted to come back down. 

+

Pidge crashed not long after Coran’s impromptu tour of Arus. He can left his stand in the hands of the Baker’s husband and dragged the two around the city. They were introduced to more cobblestone paths, secret walkways around each neighborhood, businesses which each had their own little histories and the mayor of Arus, a young dark skinned woman. Coran introduced her as Allura Altan, his god daughter. 

“It’s nice to meet you two. Would you like to sit down with me for a moment?” She smiled at the two, sitting outside a café near the of the main square and at the towns’ edge, looking out on to the vast sea surrounding the island. 

Keith made a move to decline the invitation just as Coran accepted and Pidge began to rest their head on Keith’s arm. Defeated, he sat down and pinched pidge to make them wake up. 

While witches and their familiars are not particularly secretive, performing magic or transformations in a new place without any familiarity was something of a taboo. Luckily there wasn’t any crowd and Allura had chosen a corner spot without much visibility to outside parties. Now that Keith thought about it, he wondered how Coran had managed to spot Allura in the first place. 

“Coran have you already set up at the market today? You’re quite early this year.” 

Coran smiled with this mustache, “Yes indeed! I’m expecting quite an increase in foot traffic this year with the Voltron flying in. I have Lance manning the booth and the moment – “

“Lance? But he was supposed to prepare his booth with Hunk for the bakery! Don’t tell me you just left him there to man both booths.” Allura cut him off with an expectant tone. Keith watched with an awkward presence at the conversation, only relaxing when someone came with some more tea.

“Ah, well it seems I need to get back to the market! Pidge, Keith, it was a pleasure to meet you both and if you need any information during your visit feel free to visit the Coranthacary. Don’t be strangers!” and Coran was off, leaving Keith with a practically sleeping Pidge in a café with Allura. The two watch Coran leave before Keith turned to Allura, his expression blank and trying to hide his discomfort behind his tea cup. 

Allura smiled again, before saying “So are you a witch looking to set up shop here in Arus?” Keith sputtered.

Allura passed him a napkin and pointed to Pidge, “Your friend’s feathers are showing around her neck. If she’d like to transform for she’s welcome to do here, no one is looking.” 

“Pidge prefers they and them as pronouns.” Keith replied almost absentmindedly, focusing on waking up Pidge.

“Pidge come on you're slipping” They shifted and groaned, a crick already setting in their neck.

“Can I just sleep a bit?” Keith sighed, not wanting to fuss but after a minute of prodding Pidge was awake enough to switch back to their bird form quickly, not shedding any clothes or feathers. Switching between forms, while relatively simple, needed to be deliberate to be smooth.

Pidge hopped onto Keith’s bag, securing themselves on the zip and took a nap. Allura’s lips curled from her polite smile into an amused one. 

“Don’t worry, my mother’s sister was a witch and she set up shop several years ago, on another island. Arus has not had a witch in several decades though Coran still has a few connections when we have emergencies. I take it you have completed an apprenticeship?” She inquired.

“Yes, I trained as an apothecary in Gal and received my mastery in potions and chemistry.” Keith responded, suddenly feeling like he was in an interview.

“I see. Well I would suggest looking to Coran for any references or ingredients if you need. As for a service it will take some time for the locals to get used to having a witch around so maybe hold off on selling potions until your better established. Maybe work as a courier? I must say we don’t have too many who could travel across the island as quickly.” Allura suggested, holding her chin and thinking of how to transition Keith and Pidge into the populous. 

Keith faltered slightly at the idea of carrying things on his broom. It was difficult enough to give up his work with potions but to wear at this broom would mean quite a bit more maintenance. He did not argue, and instead chose to finish his tea. 

They both moved to leave, Allura already paying the tab and Keith thanking her for her time and advice. Now he and pidge had two familiar faces in town. 

Allura offered to walk them back to the square.

“It’s really not too far from the hall.”

“No thank you. Could you tell me where a good inn is?” Keith asked. It would only be for a few nights, while they looked for a place to stay more permanently and set up a laboratory.

“We have a good inn keeper no far from here by the bakery on the upper cliff. Just ask for Lance McClain and you should find it. He’s the one that Coran wrangled into manning his booth I believe so he should be back at the inn by now. Good luck and please let me know if you need any help in settling down.” She responded lightly, directing Keith down the street.

Keith thanked her, bid her a good day, hopped on his broom and took off to find the inn she described. 

+

Going into work had been a bit of pain for Shiro. He had biked all the way to the northern edge of the island to collect the weather data only to find it was Matt’s rotation and that he had already collected an hour before. Shiro had then rode back all the way to town only to realize he had forgotten his own log book. 

Once he gone back to his house and returned to the office he had wasted nearly three hours. Matt and Samuel had teased him about having his head up in the clouds. For a moment, Shiro remembered the floating stranger from this morning, swearing furiously at some birds and a red scarf trailing behind them as they flew away. 

In the clouds indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO this chapter got away from me. I wasn't too sure how to start it (nothing quiet working because I just wanted to writing about little Keith sneaking out to fly but I didn't want to do that either!) and several other fandoms took over my life since posting this (Fantastic Beasts was fun! And YOI is amazing go watch it! Pirates of the Caribbean was cool, finally watched the whole series and got that first movie really felt like a OT3 mess!)  
> Originally I was going to have the two meet Lance and Hunk but Allura took over and Shiro needed a break from anything magical.  
> Also I know very little about meteorology and data collecting of weather patterns. I apologize for all the inaccuracies. I'll try to do research when my finals are over next week.  
> The chapter title is from the song (same name) from HTTYD2.  
> I hope you liked this chapter and please leave a comment below! They are what give me motivation to work through any writer's block that attacks!

**Author's Note:**

> So this is inspired by the wonderful are of Synnesai! The specific post is this one http://synnesai.tumblr.com/post/152396771055/keiths-delivery-service-no-one-asked-for-instead
> 
> The story will not follow the events of the film too closely but aims to be faithful to the coming-of-age and flying-freedom themes the film portrayed. Keeping in the same spirit as the film there wont be one overtaking plot but several stories following Keith and Pidge as they adjust and grow in the town. 
> 
> The plants listed at the end are more commonly referred to as Indian Pipe, Asaefotida and Camomile! (http://lebanon-pagans.tripod.com/id14.html)
> 
> Please comment or come bother me on Tumblr! nonamemanga.tumblr.com


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